West Texas A&M University Athletics

CANYON, Texas – West Texas A&M shot 58.3% from the field in the second half including 62.5% from long range as they opened their 2016-17 home schedule in style on Friday night with a big 90-82 South Central Region win over #15 Fort Lewis during the LSC/RMAC Challenge at the First United Bank Center in Canyon, Texas. The Buffs remain unbeaten as they move to 4-0 on the season while Fort Lewis drops their season opener to fall to 0-1.
 
The Buffs missed down low on their first possession as Fort Lewis hit a three from the corner to take the early lead, another WT miss led to a Skyhawk opportunity but a Skyler O'Laughlin block gave the ball back to the Buffs. The teams traded misses before FLC hit another long ball, the teams traded misses again before David Chavlovich started the WT scoring at the free throw line with two at 2-6. The Skyhawks drained a transition three ball from the top of the key before Joseph Prince answered with one of his own followed by turnovers on both ends to head into the first media timeout of the game with 14:59 left in the first half and WT trailing 9-5.
 
Another White steal lead to a Jordan Evans fast break layup after the break before misses on both ends before FLC answered with a bucket down low, Evans responded with a three ball from the wing before a WT foul allowed the Skyhawks to hit one-of-two at the line at 12-10. White went to the line and hit one-of-two followed by turnovers on both ends before the Skyhawks responded with a three-point play at 12-15 to head into a media timeout with 11:15 left.
 
Chavlovich found O'Laughlin for an easy bucket but the Skyhawks responded with another transition long ball followed by misses on both ends before Chavlovich hit a three from the top of the key at 17-18, FLC answered with a bucket before a WT miss from deep led to a Fort Lewis jumper at 22-17. The Buffs turned the ball over as RMAC Preseason Player of the Year Joshua Blaylock hit a transition three to give FLC the 25-17 lead to force a WT timeout with 9:06 left. The Buffs continued to struggle from the floor as FLC hit another bucket before an Eric Golightly Jr. reverse layup at 19-27 heading into a media timeout with 7:54 left.
 
The Buffs turned the ball over after the break to lead to a Skyhawks bucket before misses on both ends before Chavlovich hit a transition three to cut the lead to 22-27, Fort Lewis responded with another bucket in the paint followed by a WT miss and foul as the Skyhawks hit three freebies to run the lead to 34-22. The teams traded misses and turnovers before a Ryan Quaid layup at 24-34, White found Quaid under the bucket again to force a Fort Lewis timeout with the Skyhawks leading 34-26 with 3:33 left.
 
White rejected a Fort Lewis jumper attempt after the break as Walton's board and score cut the FLC lead to 28-34, the Skyhawks ended their scoring slump with a bucket followed by a WT illegal screen call with 2:44 left. Rasmus Bach hit two freebies followed by misses on both ends before Walton responded with a bucket at 30-38, Daniel Hernandez hit one-of-two at the line but the Buffs gave the ball right back with a turnover with 1:29 left in the half. Hernandez hit a three from the corner before Chavlovich responded with an old fashioned three-point play at 33-42, Bach answered with a three from the top of the key but Chavlovich wouldn't be denied as he hit a trey at the buzzer to send the teams into the half with FLC leading 45-36.
 
The Buffs were led at the half by Chavlovich with 14 points followed by Evans with five Walton with four while O'Laughlin led the way defensively with five rebounds. WT went 13-of-41 (31.7%) from the floor including 5-of-17 (29.4%) from deep and 5-of-7 (71.4%) from the free throw line to go along with 24 rebounds (12 offensive, 12 defensive), four assists, seven turnovers, five blocks and three steals.
 
Fort Lewis was led at the half by Bach with 14 points and five rebounds followed by Farris with 11. FLC went 15-of-29 (51.7%) from the floor including 7-of-10 (70%) from deep and 8-of-10 (80%) from the free throw line to go along with 21 rebounds (three offensive, 18 defensive), 12 assists, eight turnovers, two blocks and three steals.
 
O'Laughlin hit two free throws to open the second half followed by turnovers on both ends before a Fort Lewis offensive board and bucket at 38-47, White responded with a three from the wing but FLC connected on another bucket with 18:24 left. A WT miss led to another Fort Lewis bucket in the paint before two Quaid freebies before FLC responded with one-of-two at the line at 43-52. Evans hit a three from the wing before Farris answered with a long ball of his own, Evans knocked down another trey followed by a FLC miss that led to a White long ball to force a Fort Lewis timeout with 15:33 left and the Skyhawks leading 55-52.
 
Fort Lewis missed a jumper after the timeout as Quaid cut the lead to one with a layup followed by an Evans steal but the Buffs couldn't convert and add to their 8-0 run, Bach responded with a coast-to-coast layup heading into a media timeout with 13:56 left. White found Evans under the bucket for a layup and foul as WT tied the game at 57-57 with a three-point play followed by turnovers on both ends before O'Laughlin grabbed a big offensive board with a foul as the senior hit one-of-two at the line to give WT their first lead of the game at 58-57 with 12:58 left. Blaylock answered with two freebies followed by two at the line from Evans at 60-59, Fort Lewis missed from deep as Walton finished under the bucket for a layup followed by misses on both ends but another FLC foul sent the teams into a media timeout with 11:18 left and WT leading 62-59.
 
Quaid hit two freebies after the break followed by a big O'Laughlin rebound that led to a slam on the other end by the senior at 66-59, Fort Lewis stopped their scoring drought with a floater in the lane followed by misses on both ends as a Walton defensive board led to a Quaid bucket and foul as the sophomore completed the three-point play at 69-61 with 9:11 left. Blaylock hit two at the line followed by a WT miss in the paint as Hernandez hit a three from the corner at 69-66 heading into a WT timeout with 8:14 left. The Buffs turned the ball over after the timeout followed by a WT foul but the Skyhawks missed the front end at the line but a WT offensive foul gave the ball back to FLC with 7:47 left.
 
Blaylock knocked down a three from the top of the key followed by a WT turnover but the momentum swung back to the home side with a FLC offensive foul that led to a White pull-up jumper in the paint at 71-69, For Lewis missed a jumper but WT turned the ball over and fouled as Blaylock hit one-of-two freebies at 71-70 with 6:27 left. Prince connected on a floater in the lane followed by another foul as Blaylock hit two with 5:53 remaining, Walton answered with a jumper followed by another WT foul as Bach hit one-of-two at 75-73. Chavlovich answered with two free throws followed by a Fort Lewis layup and a WT turnover with 4:33 left, the Skyhawks hit one-of-two free throws before Chavlovich hit a pull-up three from deep to run the WT lead to 80-76 followed by a FLC turnover heading into the last media timeout with 3:11 left.
 
The teams traded free throws after the break as Prince gave the Buffs an 84-78 lead followed by a pair of FLC misses that led to a pair of Chavlovich freebies at 86-78, a Skyhawk turnover allowed the Buffs to add to their lead with a Walton layup at 88-78 with 1:29 left. Fort Lewis hit two free throws followed by a WT turnover but the Skyhawks continued their cold streak from the field as they couldn't cut into the lead as Evans added two more from the free throw line to give WT the big 90-82 win.
 
The Buffs were led offensively by Chavlovich with 21 points as the junior went 5-of-12 from the floor including 4-of-6 from deep while Evans (18), Quaid (15), Walton (10) and White (10) scored double-digits for WT. WT went 27-of-65 (41.5%) from the floor including 10-of-25 (40%) from long range and 26-of-31 (83.9%) from the charity stripe to go along with 46 rebounds (15 offensive, 31 defensive), 13 assists, 15 turnovers, six blocks and seven steals.
 
Fort Lewis was led by Blaylock and Bach with 21 points each to tie a game high while Farris finished the game with 15 points. The Skyhawks went 25-of-59 (42.4%) from the field including 10-of-18 (55.6%) from deep and 22-of-30 (73.3%) from the free throw line to go along with 35 rebounds (eight offensive, 27 defensive), 17 assists, 13 turnovers, three blocks and six steals in the loss.
 
UP NEXT
The Buffs conclude the 2015 LSC/RMAC Challenge tomorrow afternoon as they take on the Cowboys of New Mexico Highlands with tipoff set for 5 p.m. at the First United Bank Center in Canyon. The Cowboys fell to Eastern New Mexico, 80-77 in overtime on Friday night at the FUBC in Canyon.